


Sea Salt

by iwant2beelieve



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Road Trips, comfort/comfort (no hurting here!!), drugs/alcohol, making friends:), pining?, questioning sexuality? i suppose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 05:08:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12051969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwant2beelieve/pseuds/iwant2beelieve
Summary: Riku sighed and put a hand over his forehead. "Sora, you can't just go reserving beach houses we can't afford."Well, he shouldn't have, but he did. They couldn't afford it, but somehow that thought never crossed Sora's mind when he imagined himself, Riku, and Kairi hanging out on the beach. He wanted everything to go back to the way it was; the three of them hadn't hung out together for a whole year and Sora just wanted their first meetup to be perfect. So what if they have to invite a few new college friends to pay for it? Everyone will learn to get along...probably.





	1. Summer Vacation

 

"You what?!" Riku hissed.

"I...just thought we deserved it, you know?"

Riku sighed and put a hand over his forehead. "Sora, you can't just go reserving beach houses we can't afford."

Deep down, Sora knew Riku was right, completely and totally right. They couldn't afford it, but somehow that thought never crossed Sora's mind when he imagined himself Riku and Kairi hanging out on the beach. He wanted everything to go back to the way it was; the three of them hadn't hung out together for a whole year and Sora just wanted their first meetup to be perfect. "I know," he finally admitted. "I don't think the deposit is refundable though, which kinda sucks for me."

"How much?"

"What?"

"How much exactly would we need to gather to make it work?" Riku held Sora's gaze as he asked.

Sora gave an awkward chuckle, more focused on ripping the fringe off of a piece of notebook paper than Riku or his question. "About forty-two hundred."

"Ok, you're right. It does suck for you." He hung his head and exhaled heavily toward his desk. "There's no way the three of us could raise that kind of money."

"Well," Sora mused, "what if there were more than three of us?"

"Then I probably wouldn’t be yelling at you for reserving an entire house."

"No, I mean, what if we can get other people to come? It'll help bring down the cost."

Riku scoffed. "Well, either the cost has to go down or we're not going." He cocked his eyebrow. "And did you make any new friends? I sure didn't see any. Who else _could_ we invite?"

"Uhhh," Sora drawled while glancing around the slowly filling classroom. "What about him?" he asked, pointing to a boy three seats to his left.

"The one who puts liquor in his water bottle right before class?"

"What?! How do you even know that? Uhh--"

"He doesn't make it a secret."

"The guy who sits in the front row? with the glasses?"

"The one who spends the whole class watching porn?"

"Oh, no! Ok, what about that girl that sits diagonally in front of you?"

"First of all, it's gonna sound like a really bad setup. Second of all, she does have a boyfriend and will be offended. Also, no! She's a drug dealer!"

"Sheesh," Sora whined, defeated. He didn't know that most of his classmates were...less straight-edge than he assumed them to be. He probably should have noticed considering he'd seen and met most of them in classes during his first semester, and had multiple classes with them this semester. It was almost the end of the year and he hadn't really befriended any of them. Mentally cataloging the ones he knew didn't help either; Riku wouldn't approve of any of them. Unless...

 

"What about him?!" Sora asked with renewed vigor. He was pointing to a shorter guy whose face was currently stuffed in a book of some sort.

"The quiet one?"

"Yeah. He seems nice."

"I...don't think he likes you very much."

"What?! Why would you think that?"

Riku rolled his eyes and smiled. "Just a hunch. Ask if you want," he said with a shrug.

Sora grinned and scurried over to the other side of the room; best to ask before the professor got there. "Hey!"

The boy looked up and squinted at Sora, more confused than annoyed. "Yes?"

"So, uh, my friends and I are looking to go on a beach trip this summer, but we need more people to come and help lower the cost. How much do you like the beach?"

"Uhh--"

"It'll be you, on the beach; everything else is quiet. There's a deck you could sit out on and read…listening to the waves crash, and no one will bother you! It'd be great," he offered, trying his damnedest to sell it. Riku was shaking his head slowly behind him.

"Not to be rude, but I don't even _know_ you," the boy spat, moving his book away from his face completely. He seemed mostly annoyed now.

"But," Sora interrupted. "But you _could_ for the low low price of two hundred and fifty dollars!"

Riku coughed loudly, hoping to get Sora's attention. "Two hundred?! You're gonna have to go higher than that unless you plan on getting twenty more people in on this," he whispered.

"Shh, I'm selling it!" Sora responded, turning back toward the boy. "So, whaddaya say?"

He set his book down completely now, bringing his fist to his chin. He seemed to be actually considering it. "Two fifty?"

"Yep!" Sora knew Riku would be mad, but hey, that's still money they didn’t have before, right?

"Fine. Let me know when to get it to you." He reached into a messenger bag near his feet and scribbled something onto a scrap of paper and handed it to Sora before continuing to read.

 

Sora thanked him four times exactly, then scooted back into his seat next to Riku. "First new friend!" he uncrumpled the scrap of paper and bragged, "Zexion will be coming with us."

"Fine," sighed Riku, "you got one, but you should have asked for closer to five hundred, at least."

Sora merely shrugged and stuffed the paper into his pocket, making a mental note about adding his new friend into his contacts later.

"You realize you have to call Kairi and tell her what you've done right?"

"Oh...yeah," Sora groaned. He forgot he'd have to admit to her what an idiot he'd been. As Sora reached for his phone, the professor sauntered into the room; Sora was glad for the interruption.

Riku eyed him briefly and turned toward the projector.

_Sora could have gotten up and left to call. This is only final review anyway. Whatever, chicken._

He lifted his elbow to the desk and rested his head on his hand. At least the ordeal brought some excitement to his day.

\--

By the time the professor had said "and on Thursday" every single student had already packed their things; they were slowly standing and inching away from their seats as the professor continued to explain the lesson plans up until the final.

Riku nudged Sora's arm and headed for the door. "We're stopping in the hall before we go to our next class."

_Aw, man…_

"Ok," he conceded, searching for his phone.

 

They didn't often call Kairi. They had a snapchat group they used more frequently if they weren't just going to text each other. During their first semester, they spent almost every waking minute keeping communication alive between the three of them, but as time passed they realized it wouldn't be the end of the world. Kairi had stayed near their hometown for college; there was a university close by with a respectable veterinary science program, and it was really cheap. Sora was more fortunate when it came to finances, since his family had enough for him to travel across the country for school. He'd been accepted into the leading university for sports medicine and exercise science; the latter was his major of choice.

Riku had similar interests and decided on the same major...and university. He had also been accepted with his good grades and impressive entry application. He had joked that he couldn't let Sora go off on his own because it was dangerous. That had given friends and family a laugh, but he knew that it was his pride, and a certain amount of anxiety, that kept them close. Growing up in a small beach town, his only competition had been Sora. Riku knew that going somewhere else would make him the small fish in the big pond, and he didn't want that. He needed to be better than someone...so he followed Sora. To be fair, they had similar interests and he really did enjoy exercise science, but he added a double major of sports administration in a fit of competitive spirit. He always felt a little guilty about his motives, but was ultimately glad he made the decision.

Rooming with Sora had been a comfort and joy during their first year of college. Kairi didn't have the luxury, and also didn't seem to have the free time that the boys did. She was the first one to stop calling as much, although they all agreed that differing times zones contributed. She also didn’t respond as much to texts, but kept steady in the snapchat group. In a sense, if one of them directly texted or called her, she knew something was seriously up, and boy was it.

 

Sora decided a facetime would be best, since it'd be nice for Kairi to see them. Riku set his bookbag down against a wall and helped Sora shrug his off as he dialed.

"Hello? Are you okay?" Kairi seemed to be holding her phone below her head as she walked, camera bobbing with her steps.

"Hi!" Sora blurted, excited to see her again, even if it was an at unsavory potato-face angle.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Yes, we're alright. No one is dying immediately." Most times he found Sora’s excitability charming, but not when their best friend was assuming they were in deep shit.

"Oh," she puffed, seemingly out of breath. "Then what's up?"

Sora pressed his tongue to his cheek. She was probably busy, but he couldn't help feeling ignored in a way. This is exactly why their vacation needed to happen.

"I...uh, have something to tell you." Some part of his statement, the way he said it or the particular words he had used, brought a flutter to his heart and a churn to his stomach. He shook it off and continued, "I...made a mistake."

"Oh no," Kairi groaned. "I knew I should have taken the 'immediately' part of Riku's statement more seriously. You're not in jail or anything, right?"

"Haha, no," he squeaked. He noticed Kairi had sat down. She sipped at what he guessed was coffee and smiled for the first time, waiting for an explanation. "I missed you," is what Sora managed to say.

There was a quiet _smack_ as Riku's palm hit his face. Sora was hopeless. Yeah, boundless love for friends was cute, but he really needed to get to the point. They all had classes to get to.

"Sora, come on. She's busy."

Kairi only shrugged in response. _Riku was right._

"Yeah! Ok, well...I really wanted for the three of us to hang out again this summer...to actually, physically see each other and stuff. So," he took a deep breath and looked to Riku for reassurance or some other kind of comfort, which he did not find, "I rented a beach house." He winced in anticipation mid-statement and stayed that way until he heard… _it_.

"Ok," Kairi's head lowered until her brows began eating away at what you could see of her usually bright eyes. They weren't so bright right now. "What's the problem."

If it was possible, Sora would have crunched further into himself, but he was already max-wince.

"Sora put a down payment on some huge-ass beach mansion it would cost another four thousand to actually pay for."

Truly fearful of what Kairi would say next, Sora's nostrils flared and his eyes widened. Riku didn't have to be so...so…to the point all the time, sheesh.

There was a stray guffaw which quickly turned into roiling laughter. Kairi didn't speak again until she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Sora, you big dummy! What were you thinking?"

"I-I thought with my heart and not my head," he shamefully admitted.

This time Riku started laughing; Kairi joined in, but with more control.

"You _guys!_ ”

The other two began to wheeze apologies between their slowing chuckles.

Kairi cleared her throat and attempted to address the problem. "Well, looks like we're out of your cut for the summer funds since you...wasted it on a down payment I'm assuming is non-refundable."

Riku nodded from behind Sora, and Kairi nodded back, acknowledging his answer.

"Wait!" Sora exclaimed, a little too loudly for an empty hallway. "I was thinking we could still do it if we invite our new college friends and have them pay a little bit each."

Unlike Riku, Kairi seemed to seriously mull the idea over. Her face transformed from a scrunched expression of contemplation into a bright cheery smile within ten seconds. "That's not a bad idea! I have a friend I really want you both to meet--oh, Sora you'll just love him!"

The boys both seemed vaguely offended by this statement, but for very different reasons neither was sure they could explain just yet. 

"I'm glad _someone_ thought it was a good idea," Sora managed after recovering from Kairi's news.

"So, how much do I owe you? You said it was about 4k left right?"

"W-well," Riku interjected, scooting closer to the camera and, consequently, Sora. "We don't know yet. It depends on how many we invite."

Sora thought that was a good save and nodded enthusiastically. Neither one of them wanted to trouble Kairi with this half-baked vacation idea. They both knew how hard she worked to pay her own tuition without taking out too many loans. Asking for money to do something this frivolous seemed like a direct violation of some sort of friend code.

"Ballpark me. What if we get three more people?"

Visibly grimacing seemed not to be the way to go as Sora got a smack to the head from Riku who smiled fakely at the screen. Sora, at a loss for what to say, did the same.

"Oh for--guys!" She let out a deep sigh, but never stopped smiling.

"Dont...you have a class or something to be getting to?" Riku asked, as an obvious (and failing) diversion.

Kairi rolled her eyes then held her arms out in a grandiose gesture. "I’m _in_ my lab."

"Then why are you on the phone?!" both boys yelled in unison.

"Guys, guys, it's okay. Remember that upperclassman thesis guy whose stuff I'm working on? It's his lab and I'm just cleaning petri dishes today. He doesn't mind, really."

"Just...pay what you can," Riku said, finally.

"No," Sora turned to Riku, then back to Kairi. "No, really it's okay."

"Okay, I admit I was going to try and pay more than I really, truly could. I'll let you know tomorrow how much I'll be able to scrounge up for my 'miscellaneous expenses' fund."

"Can you hang on a sec, Kai?" Sora turned to Riku and whispered something. Riku whispered back, more spirited. They began to whisper-fight. _Uhg._

"You know that doesn't really work when...we're video chatting right?"

They both took a minute to consider it, and realized she was right.

"We just...don't wanna bug you with this, is all."

She rolled her eyes playfully at Sora while taking a huge swig from her travel mug. "Oh, _please_ if that was true you wouldn't have even called. Besides," she teased in a warmer tone "I don't wanna miss out on all the stupid fun you guys are having without me. I'll try my best to pitch in, okay? If not with my own money, I can at least bring some friends." There was a clinking noise that seemed draw Kairi's attention. "Oh, gross. There's a bunch of dirty dissection stuff I should probably help clean. Keep me in the loop, okay? I'm so excited for our trip now, I don't know how focused I can be during finals."

She blew a kiss to them both and fiddled with her phone a second. Her eyes darted back to the camera as though she suddenly remembered something. She held her left hand up and twisted the ring around her middle finger so it glinted in the dim yellow lights. Sora perked up, caught off guard by the gesture and did the same with his left hand ring finger.

"Okay, bye now for real. The formaldehyde reeks."

"Wait, I have to tell you something!"

Riku stared at Sora, mouth agape. To be honest, Sora was surprised with himself too, but something about the ring thing willed the words from his mouth.

"Hm, what is it?"

"Uhh." He wasn't ready. Not yet. Not over the phone, and not when she was about to touch unknown animal guts; that'd be rude. "You're a huge nerd! Smell ya later!"

 

Sora ended the call and pressed his back to the wall, pocketing his phone. His eyes were wide open but focused on nothing in particular. He didn't notice, but he was using his thumb to spin his ring. Riku watched this, mouth still partly open, wondering what exactly had prompted Sora's near-confession.

"You wanna skip biology today?" Sora’s eyes were still unfocused as he spoke.

Riku gave a nod and picked up both of their bags. He set them down on a bench not far from the building they had just walked out of.

"Granola?"

Sora bobbled his head a few times before nodding and plunking himself next to his bookbag. He limply brought a handful of granola to his mouth. After a few more attempts and using food to swallow his nerves, he fell toward Riku, so his forehead landed on the taller man's shoulder.

"You gonna be alright?"

Sora ground his head into Riku's shoulder, in an attempt to nod, and exhaled as slowly as Riku imagined one could.

"I have to tell her sometime," whined Sora. "I just feel so bad!"

"Just tell her when you see her. It looks like she really wants the vacation to happen...so, tell her when you see her."

"That's not a very pleasant welcome."

"I don't think she'll be that upset Sora."

"Says you! These stupid dinky rings we got were a promise not to--"

"It might be best not to finish that statement."

"OH GOD, you're right! I broke the promise anyway! Yikes," he spat, pulling the ring off of his finger and examining it. "I guess I'm pretty shit at keeping promises."

"Okay, well that's not true." Riku nudged Sora and cleared his throat. In his best free-spirited Sora voice he said, "I promise this will be the best year ever! I also promise that I'll try my best not to drive you to murder and that we'll stay friends even after sharing an embarrassingly small room."

The victim of said imitations shied away from Riku's smirking and prodding. "Yeah? I kept those?"

"Mmhm."

Sora revealed a toothy grin and pounced over his bookbag to give Riku a bear hug. He didn't really care whether or not Riku wanted that to happen; it made Sora feel better so he was gonna do it regardless.

It just so happened that Riku didn't mind at all, so long as Sora was happy.

"You're the best!" Sora released Riku and righted himself on the bench. "But-"

"But?"

"I still gotta tell her."

"Yeah, probably."

Sora sighed and shouldered his bag. He made a tired wave away from the building. Riku's guess was that Sora wanted to just call it a day and head home. Propping his hands on his knees, Riku pushed himself upright and tossed his bag over one arm.

 

"Hey, wait," a voice called, presumably from inside the building they were walking away from; maybe someone left a window open?

"You're Sora, right?"

Oh...or maybe the voice was outside the building. They turned to find a boy, winded, brushing the weird flat-top-mohawk part of his hair upright, then rubbing at his neck, disturbing his fringy mullet. His jeans were probably actually leggings and he had heeled ankle-boots over top of them. His black tank top read "fight for peace" and had a small equal sign stitched near the hem.

Sora liked the look of this guy, but was hard-pressed to figure out of he actually _knew_ him or not. Nuts, he had to ask. "Have we met?"

"Oh, no, sorry. I'm Demyx. I overheard you guys are planning a beach trip and need extra attendees."

Riku's eye's narrowed. "Six hundred."

"Wow, really? I'd be happy to contribute!"

"Why do you wanna go, if you don't mind me asking?" Sora would have liked to ask before Riku rudely tried to scare him away with a price tag, but luckily it didn't work. He'd be getting a talking to later; he was really bad at handling the deal-making aspect of this.

"Oh, I just really love the ocean. I love the beach; it's my favorite place! It's just," he kicked a bit of gravel between the toes of his boots and stared at the grass a few feet to his left, "my friends got sick of going to the beach so I don't get to go as much anymore. I mean, it's no fun going by yourself, anyway. I'd be grateful to go along with you guys."

Riku still didn't seem sold, but Sora was more than happy to recruit Demyx. He seemed like the kind of friend you wanted to make, and would either be really fun or really annoying during the drive there, and Sora was liking his odds. "Sweet, if you give me your number I'll send you the deets later."

"Awesome! Here," Demyx pulled a highlighter from his back pocket and took the cap off with his teeth. He pulled Sora's arm toward him and scribbled in a bubbly font his name and number, with a smiley face at the end. Yeah, Sora liked this guy. They waved goodbye and Sora was tugged away and onto the sidewalk by a still-annoyed Riku.

 

\-----

After Kairi watched Sora's weird insult sign-off, she wondered if he was really doing okay away from home for college. She quickly dismissed that thought since Riku would have said something if Sora wasn't. Instead, she spent her time triple cleaning lab supplies and imagining the soft but loud crashing of waves, the distant squawking of seagulls and the warm, salty sea breeze. Eventually she imagined the house, then paying the rent for it, which ultimately devolved into mentally counting how much she really could afford to spare. After meticulously washing and drying everything in the lab, she concluded that, after participating in a study or two, she'd be able to spare about fifty dollars toward rent. Not as much as she'd wanted, but that was what she could afford.

She left the lab kind of disappointed, but then remembered that she could invite friends. She whipped out her phone, took a selfie in the first snapchat filter that gave her sunglasses and captioned it "recruitment begins" before sending it to Sora and Riku or, according to snapchat, sadass and flatass. Kairi was badass of the Ass Trio snap group. She took another selfie, this one without a filter, where she stuck out her tongue, wrinkled one side of her nose and added "hey dork" which she then sent to Real Friend.

Real Friend opened it within the minute and sent back an image of his face, only from his blue eyes up, showing most of his strangely styled blonde hair. It looked poofier than usual today. There were no words with the picture. Kairi decided that didn't matter and prepared to send him another one before seeing that he typed a message afterward.

"I forgot to add the words but I was gonna say sup."

"How close are you to the psych building right now?"

"Eh."

"Meet me by the front doors. I have news."

"Like, right now, currently?"

"Ya"

"K."

 

Kairi planted herself in the grass next to the concrete stairs leading to the doors to wait for him. The grass was new, growing emerald green during late spring, but already turning brown and dry, burnt to a crisp by the sun. She grabbed a handful and examined it before dropping it right where she'd plucked it from. When she looked back up she saw a figure in the distance approaching; a boy in straight leg jeans, a slightly too large band t-shirt, maroon Vans, and a mess of blonde fuzz on top, adjusted the pencil sticking from his ear and his notebook tucked into the crook of his elbow. Yep, that was Roxas. She could see his smile glinting from the end of the street, where he first caught sight of her.

 "Hey," he chimed, plopping himself down in the grass next to her and admiring the variety of wildflowers growing near the curb.

 "Have you ever been to the ocean?"

Roxas whistled, showing how hard he had to think about it. "Not since I was pretty little."

"Do you wanna go?"

"It'd be nice," he said, eyes now closed and face pointed skyward.

"What if I told you my friends from high school were trying to set up a beach trip this summer and I want you to be there?"

His eyes shot open and he smiled warmly. "Really?! You meant it?"

It was this kind of behavior that had reminded Kairi of Sora, and prompted her to seek him out in the first place. She met him in her writing class first semester; the snark with which he handled the ice breaker and the kind-hearted shyness you saw when you tried to get to know him were all too familiar. Sometimes she felt a little guilty, of what she wasn’t sure. Maybe because she originally treated Roxas like a substitute for a friend she couldn’t see, if only in her mind. The fact that she had once joked to herself that Roxas was "I Can't Believe It’s Not Sora" upset her sometimes, but the more they talked the more she noticed the differences. This didn’t shed her guilt for befriending him, but it was good to know they were, in fact, different. For example, she noted that Sora tends toward stomping and whining when he's upset whereas Roxas lashes out in any way he sees fit, usually insults and sarcasm, sometimes worse. Still, she felt he and Roxas had similar temperaments and would get along well.

 

"Yep! I really want you guys to meet, but we might not be able to afford the cottage so it's still kinda in the air."

Roxas frowned, picking some of the stray grass from his shoes. "Aw, that's a total bummer." He gently put a hand over Kairi's wrist. "I took a part time job on campus this semester; I bet I could help. How much should I give y--oof!"

Kairi had knocked Roxas over in her attempt to hug him. She made a few incomprehensible squeaks before letting him go again. "You're the absolute best!" She reached around to her back pockets and checked her texts. Riku, thoughtfully and thankfully, had given some number estimates. He said the house was about 4,600. He'd give about 800, and Sora had paid 10% down. They were aiming to get new sign-ons to pay about 600. She also had a text from Sora, but it was just a jumble of emojis depicting two boys (holding hands? Who knows, she has an android and he doesn't.) and one girl going to the beach and presumably getting ice cream. What a dork.

"Is that from your friend?" Roxas asked, leaning over Kairi's shoulder enough to rest his chin there. It was kind of a reach since he wasn't very tall, but he did anyway.

"Yeah, from the one I think you'll really like. He's super pumped about the trip, as you can tell. He's the one who reserved the house, actually."

"Ah."

Kairi set her phone down next to a honeybee who quickly flew away, much to Roxas's dismay. "My other friend, the one currently rooming with emoji-boy, says about six hundred should settle it."

"Oh, no problem. I can get that to you whenever you need it." Roxas offered a smile as he stood. "Text e when you need it. I'm gonna go sit out on the sidewalk in front campus before the sun sets."

Kairi extended an arm and was pulled to her feet. "Thank you. Really. You are seriously the bomb and I owe you."

Roxas's grin went crooked and he gave Kairi a light shove. "Just keep printing my essays for me."

"Oh come on, I'm hardly paying you back that way."

"The way I write it would cost me a million dollars so I'm always in your debt, actually."

"I mean I _really_ owe you."

"Ok, fine, rip me The Neighborhood's album I know you have."

Kairi frowned, eyebrows raised in thought. "Okay, you got it. Can I ask you for one more favor though?"

"You make a big deal about owing me and ask for another favor," Roxas laughed, somewhat to himself.

"I need you to make the road trip mix if we do go. You have the coolest taste in music."

"Indie?"

"Uh, yeah," Kairi called to Roxas as he left, in an 'of course that’s what I meant' tone.

He lifted his chin to her in acknowledgement before turning away.

 

 _One down, one to go_. Kairi went back into the building she had come from, hoping she could still find who she was looking for inside…because texting him would be weird.

The entire building seemed empty and quiet. Good. She had the best chance of catching him here, then. If others were staying late, he tended to leave and finish his work elsewhere.

"Hey," she called into the same lab she'd left less than an hour ago. "You still here?"

She was answered with a short grunt from the back of the room. Sitting, in the near dark, was the junior vet science student whose thesis she was assisting with. He looked eerie with only his laptop to light his face, but then again he had a habit of looking unapproachable on the daily.

"Do you like the beach?"

"Not if it's crowded."

Kairi rolled her eyes and tried again. "I mean do you enjoy the ocean? Like, remotely more than dry land?"

"It's usually a good place to stargaze at least."

She should probably just ask at this point, she wasn't gonna get the kind of answer she wanted, it seemed. "Ok, well, two of my old friends are planning a beach trip but we need other people to come and chip in on the cottage."

The man lowered the top of his computer a bit and scratched at the back of his blue hair. "Where is it?"

"Small beach town out east, I think. Not too much further south, but it's pretty out of the way."

"How many are coming?"

Kairi clicked her tongue. "We don't know yet. So far there's me, my two friends, you, and one other college friend. I don't know how many other people my friends are inviting."

"Could I bring a friend?"

This question caught her off-guard. She had managed a strange friendship kind of arrangement with Saix, but only after enduring never-ending grief. Turns out he only respected her because she had the audacity to call him out on his bullshit, unlike his other lab assistants. They exchanged snarky comments and had a vague understanding of each other's schedules, but that was it. He wasn't an amicable man. The idea that he even had a friend was kind of wild to her. She realized that was kind of rude, but he certainly didn't open up to new people; it must be an old friend.

"Yeah, sure. What year are they?"

"Junior, same as me. I just figure he'd like the novelty of a trip like this. He's more of a people person, anyway."

"Oh, fun! My friends are asking six hundred per person for rent, though."

"That's doable."

Kairi smiled and lifted the laptop screen back up, giving Saix a pat on the shoulder over the table. "You are...the worst."

"Good," he replied, trying to fight off a smile.

"Keep on working there, bud."

Saix patted the seat next to him and gave Kairi a hard glare, holding her attention until she obliged. He knew she hadn't finished her lab report somehow. He wasn't in her microbiology lecture, obviously, but he just _knew_ , damn it. He produced a smaller tablet from his bag along with a detachable keyboard and set them in front of her. She sighed and signed into her google account. Before completely resigning herself to the next few hours of academic typing, she snapped Sora and Riku in the same dim computer light she spotted Saix in earlier. She added the words "recruitment finished: +2 friends +1 friend of friend" and sent it out right before setting her phone to silent and returning it to her pocket.

 

\------

"Bleeeeeeeeuuurgh," Sora wailed, for no particular reason. He was standing facing away from the door of their tiny dorm room, looking at himself in a small mirror set on top of their dresser.

Riku said nothing but looked at him as if to ask if he was still alive. After watching a particularly dramatic sigh, he decided the answer was no, Sora was currently dead. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he replied on impulse, then thought again, "no. Maybe. I dunno."

"What's wrong?"

"Same issue, man. I just...don't know how to break the news to Kairi."

"I suppose if the trip doesn't happen you won't have to tell her then." Riku thought he ought to tread carefully because Sora really should be able to tell her. It would definitely make his life easier. He'd watched for a year while Sora went to local Pride parades, joined the LGBTQ club on campus and regularly went out to the few Gay bars around town and generally had the time of his life. He often went to tell Kairi stories of his adventures, or of boys he met, but then remembered their promise and cut himself short. It was kind of painful for Riku to watch, he couldn’t imagine how terrible Sora might feel. He should be able to share things with his best friends, but Riku supposed that if he didn't want to tell her he didn't have to; it was his decision after all.

"What? No, the trip is gonna happen," Sora retorted, finally interrupting Riku's thoughts. "Didn't you get the snap she just sent?"

Riku shook his head and quickly checked his phone before returning to his spot, sitting on the bottom bunk. "Well, then you should at least be excited for the trip now. You can worry later, right?"

"Uuuuuhg, I don't wanna worry at all! I'll just...tell her after our first night sleeping there. I can’t imagine that fresh out of a 12 hour road trip she'd care to hear my life story."

"It's...gonna be a lot longer for her. Closer to 24."

"Ew, yeah. I'll tell her the next day."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. I told you and you're fine with it. Hell, you've even been my wingman. She has to be ok with it, it's Kairi."

Riku smiled, glad to know that Sora could feel safe around his friends, pulled him to the bed and threw an arm over his shoulder.  "She will be, you know that."

He snorted. "Yeah, she barely called us at all last semester anyway. How into a dinky little promise ring could she still be?" Sora laughed a little at his own comment and leaned into Riku. "Thanks for being here, man. I couldn't ask for a better friend. Literally, could not."

Riku wrinkled his nose a little, in denial of Sora's statement, but pulled him into a one-armed hug anyway. "Not that I don't love 'appreciate your best friend' hour, but shouldn't we iron out the actual details of the trip?"

"See? Could not ask for a better friend. Here you are, busting your ass over this botched beach house rental just because I wanted it." He turned to face Riku's side and shook him by the shoulders for emphasis. "The _best_.” 

Their phones rang simultaneously and they scrambled to their respective corners of the room to answer. It turned out to be only a text, from Kairi, asking when exactly this trip was supposed to be. Riku cocked his head.

"Good question." He had an accusative edge to his voice, like he knew it was going to be either really soon, or right before fall semester.

Sheepishly, Sora returned to his place on the bunks. "Three weeks?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Telling."

"Does Kairi's semester end the same week as ours? Because…three weeks? That’d make it the week right after _our_ finals. "

"Dunno." He was getting a little annoyed with Riku's 'come on Sora can’t you think one time before you do something you are terribly dumb and also I'm better than you so there' tone, but he kind of deserved it. He had to suck it up, at least this time.

Riku sat first on the bunk before falling backwards and reaching am arm upwards toward Sora's back. "Do you have a confirmation e-mail or something on your phone I can look at?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Riku flexed his hand a few times for emphasis before Sora was able to get it to him.

"Ok, I'm sending out a mass text with dates and times. I hope you don't mind but I'm taking control of financials."

Sora's eyebrows raised and he shook his head absentmindedly. "Be my guest."

"Ha, hilarious."

Sora said nothing, but it looked like he was thinking.

"Guest? Because beach house? No? Ok."

Instead of a laugh, Riku's joke awarded him an upper body cringe. Sora would have thought he'd be used to this by now, but alas there was a cringe. That was terribly unfunny.

A few minutes passed as Riku continued typing and Sora, receiving no attention, decided to climb up a bunk.

"Hey," Riku called, without moving from his spot. "Why are you in my bed?"

"Why are you in mine?"

"It's the one closer to the floor?"

"And yours is comfier."

"Is it?"

Sora thought about that for a minute. No, it wasn't really. He had no reason for laying in it other than being a nuisance. He mentally shrugged and wrapped himself in the duvet.

"Okay, as it stands, everyone who has agreed to come confirmed that three weeks is fine and that they can get the money by the end of this week, latest. Zexion," Riku stopped and considered who he was talking to, "that boy from class you harassed, said he'd bring a friend."

"Sweet! That gets us there right?"

"No, because the friend is going to pay 250, like Zexion, since you just _had_ to lowball it."

Before Sora could protest, Riku spoke again. "So, I sent out another text that says we can't go unless we find another payer by then."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"To put fire under their asses, I guess. We need at least 300 more for the house, and we didn't even have friends to invite in the first place."

"I have another hundred I can give, but that’s all I got."

Riku exhaled. Sora could tell his nostril were flaring a bit in frustration without needing to look. He clambered down the ladder, still wrapped in Riku's duvet and flopped over next to him, trying to read his phone...until it rang. 

"Ahh! Calling? who's calling?" Sora pulled his arm out of the blanket burrito and snatched the phone from Riku. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Oh," there was static, or maybe raspberries. Hard to tell. "You didn't put me in as a contact, you goof! It's Demyx from earlier."

Riku reached out, hit the speaker button and set it between them.

"Oh, yeah, no. Your writing is still on my arm."

"Ok well you need to get on that,” Demyx joked. "No, but really, I heard you needed another guy but I’d be happy to pay the other six hundred so rent is covered."

Riku choked a little bit and nudged Sora in a way that said 'take the money holy shit'.

"Wow, really? Couldn't you just take a trip by yourself with all the money you're giving us?"

"Mm, probably, but like I said, my friends don't like the beach. It'll be more fun with you guys. Let me know when you wanna meet me for it. I'll buy you and your guy friend coffee. Is he single? He's cute in a shy kind of way."

The bed creaked as Riku sat up, mouth opening and closing noiselessly. Sora laughed as hard as he could, despite his lungs being restricted by a lump of blanket.

"Single pringle. He's more aloof than shy, though."

"Hm. I'll have to see him again to test that theory. Bring him, ok?"

"Sure. I'll text you when."

They exchanged goodbyes, and Riku swore he heard Demyx blow a kiss before hanging up.

"So, that's it then," Sora said, poking Riku until he finally flinched. "We're going on vacation!"

 

 

 


	2. Ashtrays & Stowaways

Riku hadn't insisted on looking at the house when Sora thought he would. The day before they were leaving and Riku threw his hands up, yelling about 'forgetting to plan the sleeping arrangements' and grumbling about how large of an oversight it was. It was then that he searched through all the horrible ocean pun house names on the realtor's site until he found theirs: house #83, Sea Salt. Sora watched Riku's face as he found the listing, and noticed the theatrical eye roll. Yeah, it was stupid and sentimental and Riku knew that’s _exactly_ why Sora reserved the house. After a few jokes at Sora's expense, he admitted the other two houses on his 'to-reserve' list were named Partyin' Pelican and, his personal favorite, Ternt. He chose to go with the non-bird-related house. Apparently regardless of amenities, Riku decided after reading the floor descriptions.

The house had two floors. The first had three bedrooms and a bathroom, and the second had a bedroom with attached bathroom, living area, kitchen, and dining room. Both floors had decks on the east side, facing the ocean (the house itself was oceanfront, with a private boardwalk to the beach) and there was a third level of the deck that held a hot tub and a few tables and chairs.

Why Sora thought they would have needed so many bedrooms, Riku would never know. Well, okay, he was 99% sure Sora had just...not looked, but that was beside the point. Riku ended up being quite thankful for the extra sleeping space. Unfortunately, it just...wasn't enough.

The second-floor master bedroom had a king bed. Both Sora and Riku decided they and Kairi could share it to try and give room to their other guests, who probably would be less comfortable sleeping in beds together. Another bedroom had only a queen bed, which was assigned to Kairi's friend and friend of a friend. Since they signed on together, Riku assumed, and hoped, that they were close enough not to mind sharing a bed. There was a room that had a double and single; this room went to Zexion and his friend who was described as “very large.” (Zexion mentioned this in hopes that the seating for the trip to the beach wouldn't be too uncomfortable for this apparently tall man.) The final room had only two singles and, by process of elimination, would house Demyx and Kairi's other friend. Sora has noted that Demyx was super friendly so it would be fine; Riku hoped he was right about that.

It was a tight squeeze, but everyone was accounted for and no one had to sleep on the couch or the floor. Riku sent the arrangement to Kairi and asked if that sounded okay based on who she was bringing. He got only a thumbs up emoji in response.

 

\----

In order to arrive at the same time as Riku and Sora, Kairi's party would have to leave more than a day before check in. This meant that everyone had to leave during their last day of finals.

Kairi had called Roxas that morning.

"Hey, uh, remember how I owe you," she sputtered before giving him a chance to properly pick up.

"Ha, you say you do but--"

"I'm gonna ask for another favor."

There was laughter on his end. "Sure, what's up?"

"Well...my car probably...would overheat and break if I tried to take it that far. Could you drive us in yours?"

There was an uncharacteristic humming as he considered her plea. She didn't think there would be a chance he'd say no; he was always happy to help.

"How straight edge are your friends, the ones we're taking?"

"Uhh." She wasn't sure how to answer that. Why was he asking? "One of them is probably what'd you'd call definition straight-edge. The other one I don't know; it's his friend."

"Oof," Roxas puffed.

What was his deal? Was his car that important to him?

"How...snitch-y are they?"

"What?"

"How likely are they to defer to higher authority in any given situation?"

"I mean, Saix likes to kiss up every once in a while, but I can't imagine he would unless there's something in it for him. Last I checked, most police don't give out brownie points."

Another puff of air over the mic. "Mmm, okay. I'll drive. Where do you want me to pick everyone up?"

"Park behind the psych building. That's where's Saix's friend is gonna meet him."

"Gotcha. See you later."

"Mmhm, bye."

 Kairi had only one final that day, which she finished in under an hour and left so she could see Saix and meet his friend. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't been wondering about the mystery friend for the last month.

She found Saix sitting in the hallway, leaning on one bent leg, the other flat out, threatening to trip any inattentive passersby.

"Hey, how were your finals?"

"Meh," he answered, brushing dirt from his jeans. "Axel is parking now. I got him a pass; he'll be here in a few minutes...assuming he can read a map." Saix stood. "Twenty minutes."

Kairi giggled. She was glad that Saix seemed to have someone he could joke with, even it if it was in his monotone sarcastic way. His friend, Axel, probably understood.

"Heeey! Saix! Where are you? I found a building that says psychology near the sign, is this it? Hello?! If you can hear me give a yell!"

Saix grumbled and walked out the front door where, presumably, Axel was.

Upon coming back in, Saix was dragging along a guy only slightly taller than he was, minus the four inch heeled leather boots, with a mess of bright red hair (was that natural?) and bright green eyes. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a grey v-neck that had a hand with the middle finger up screen-printed on the left side.

"This is Axel. Axel, Kairi."

Kairi smiled and gave a slight wave. This was nothing like what she pictured. Axel seemed too...loud to be friends with Saix.

"Well, howdy, Kairi." Axel threw out an arm and gave a very firm yet limp handshake, like flinging a cooked piece of spaghetti. "I assume, if Saix is like I left him, he told you jackshit about me?"

Kairi laughed meekly in response. "He gave a name and a year."

"Sounds about right. Well, basically we're childhood friends. I apologize in advance for not being more forthcoming, but my six-hour drive here was a little rough."

"You drove _six hours_?”

Axel squinted and glanced at Saix before returning his attention to Kairi. "Yeah, we're from about six hours away." His eyes popped open suddenly in realization. "Oh, he never mentioned that, huh? We're not from around here."

Kairi turned to Saix next. Why would he go to this tiny university, barely more recognized than a community college...if it was six hours away from his home?

"Oh, he's a real cheapskate, you must know that by now. It was the cheapest place he could go for undergrad, scholarships included."

Kairi nodded, eyebrows drawn together. Weird. He seemed to spend a lot on frou-frou coffee, despite Axel's penny-pinching claims. Whatever, her phone was ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I parked behind the building. You guys ready?"

"Yeah, I think so. Oh, and don't worry. Saix's friend seems to...uh,” she glanced at Axel’s shirt again while choosing her words, “give very few shits."

"Oh, good," Roxas chuckled. "I'll pop my trunk so you know which one's me; just go ahead and throw everything in."

Kairi gave her goodbye and instructed the older two to grab their things. Saix seemed to have a bookbag full of bricks, and Axel had a mostly empty duffel. She'd have to get to know Axel before deciding for sure if packing habits were a good indication of personality, but she certainly had her hunches.

 

Outside, Kairi spotted Roxas right away, leaning on the side of the car, next to an open trunk like he'd said. The car was beaten to shit and, if her memory served her correctly, it was a Chevy cavalier just…really old, and the beige paint was peeling off some edges. She later discovered the owner’s manual stating it was indeed a 1994 cavalier coupe. _Nice! Thank you Riku for your car knowledge! It was useful one (1) time!_

It seemed Roxas’s only luggage was an overstuffed bookbag, clothes leaking from unzipped pockets.

"Hi," he mumbled, oddly out of character. He seemed almost twitchy; maybe he was nervous about meeting new people?

"Hi," Kairi sang, dropping her bag and running at him, arms wide. She made sure to squeeze him extra hard to shake away his bad mood...hopefully, anyway. "Roxas, this is Saix. He's a lab partner of mine. The spirited one next to him is a childhood friend of his, Axel."

"Oooh, 'spirited'. That one's new. I like it," Axel joked, fist bumping Roxas with gusto.

Saix simply made eye contact as a form of greeting.

 _Hm, he must be the stiff._ Roxas lifted his chin in a slight nod and took bags from his two new passengers. He seemed to notice Saix's impossibly packed bag and scowled at it slightly. Axel's bag he threw in without a second glance.

"Kairi, I assume you're shotgun?"

She nodded and followed Roxas's lead, climbing into his small banged-up car.

As she did, her nose wrinkled involuntarily. Yikes, you could tell this poor car was old just by how it smelled. Saix seemed to do the same, letting an errant cough escape before steeling himself. This was gonna be a long trip, better get used to it. Seriously though, the kid couldn't invest in an air freshener? No, wait, there was one hanging from the rearview mirror! It's wasn't a tree it was--oh.

Axel noticed the marijuana leaf decoration and the smell as soon as he'd opened the back door and grinned. "Oh ho ho," he laughed haughtily. "Naughty, naughty...Roxas, was it?"  He laughed again. This was gonna be one hell of a trip. All that was left on his mind was where the kid kept it; it had to be in the car somewhere. His nose was telling him so.

Roxas looked to Kairi with apology in his eyes. He had never told her about his...recreational habit. She didn't seem like the type to approve (and she didn't really, but that was beside the point.) After a few seconds of what turned out to be awkward staring, since Kairi seemed to be in shock and Roxas's unspoken apology went unnoticed, he gave up and asked everyone if they were ready to go.

The only one to answer was Axel with a "Hell yeah!"

The tiny car sputtered a little before starting, but once it did Roxas reversed out of his parking spot and drove onto the road with lighting speed; it made Saix's seat belt hitch and chafed his neck. Great.

 

Kairi, a little stirred by the reckless driving thus far, despite it only being about two minutes in, tried to quell the awkward tension by asking, "Hey, did you make that playlist or naw?"

"Oh, yeah. Here." Roxas offered his phone to Kairi and informed her the passcode was the year that nothing has been alright since. She looked at him, clearly confused, until he turned and smiled. (Not watching the road!! Saix was mentally screaming. _For the love of god kid, ten and two! Ten and two!! Eyes forward_!) 

"Nothing...has been AL-RIGHT since--"

"Bruce Springsteen, Madonna--"

"Waaay before Nirvana!" 

Ok, she got it now, and punched 1985 into the lock screen. Roxas continued to hum while Kairi thumbed through his music.

"Man, I'm so excited this looks great!" She was looking for the right mood setter to start the playlist and remembered, "Oh yeah, I have your ripped CD. It's in my bag. Remind me when we get there."

"Sweet, thanks!"

"Literally not a problem," she assured him while selecting Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root. It was accurate and pretty relaxed, a good start. It was one of many older songs Roxas had thrown in. His music library was overwhelmingly indie, but he had a good amount of old alt rock and various other smash hits from the early 2000s.

 

\-------------

After about two albums worth of alt-j, they'd also heard all of American Idiot, Zaba, Hot Fuss, and Gossamer. Currently, Brendon Urie was screaming at them; Roxas's fingers were tapping the steering wheel idly with the beat. They'd been on an empty highway for at least four hours.

Axel had grown restless. As much as he enjoyed singing the songs he knew, there were too many he didn't…and he was BORED. He sat up from his previous slump; the seat belt was cutting into his neck and leaving a mark on his cheek. Saix was sitting ramrod straight, eyes closed. He wasn't really asleep, Axel knew that, but that also meant 'don't talk to me right now.' _Uhg._ Diagonally across from him, Kairi was smiling and tapping her foot, genuinely enjoying the sights, although all they seemed to be were exit signs and trees. Scooting a little to his right, Axel could get a good look at Roxas in the rearview mirror. He looked tired. Not just exhausted, but mentally tired…annoyed, maybe. Whatever his mood, he seemed pretty concentrated on the road. _Perfect._

It was time to find the weed...maybe. Axel was gonna try his damnedest to find it. Why? Mostly for fun. He didn't intend to take it or anything, maybe examine it and decide the quality for himself. He supposed deep down it was to judge this Roxas guy. Axel had a good read on Kairi; her personality was pretty straight forward, but Roxas seemed more complex. Why were those two friends anyway? Asking that question seemed pretty dumb after he thought about it because he and Saix didn't seem to have a damn thing in common. Whatever, this was giving him a headache.

He pulled the combination armrest-cup holder down from in between himself and Saix slowly and quietly. Nothing there, just a fruit-by-the-foot wrapper. Saix had noticed and opened one eye to monitor Axel's behavior. He watched as Axel started searching through the back pockets of the seats in front of him. There was just a plethora of spiral bound notebooks of all shapes and sizes.

_Damn, dude must take a lotta notes._

A few minutes later, Axel was lifting the floor mats and feeling under seats. It was when he stuck a gangly arm under Kairi's seat that he'd been spotted. Saix had already been kicking him, telling him to quit it, but this time it was Roxas who saw, and he knew exactly what Axel was trying to do.

 

In the blink of an eye, Roxas had flicked the turn signal and cut across three lanes of traffic from the left lane to the right shoulder, riding the rumble strips for a few seconds before cutting back across to the furthest lane left. He glared at Axel through the mirror, who tried to write it off as a stretch. Saix punched Axel in the shoulder because _HOLY SHIT_ Roxas just risked their lives to get back at Axel for being nosy. Axel sat back up and looked at Kairi, whose hand was on the door handle, knuckles white. Her teeth were bared and she was breathing heavily.

Axel couldn't suppress his laughter. Roxas jerked the car just a bit to make Axel stop. Ok, no fun, this guy was serious. Both Kairi and Saix faced Axel; their eyes were shooting daggers. This meant it was 'sit down and shut up' time for him again. _Sigh._

He readjusted himself in his seat until he realized he was sitting _on_ something. He removed a notebook from his ass and huffed indignantly. What did this guy have so much to write about? He flipped through the red, five-subject notebook, but he didn't find notes. If anything, it looked more like complex journaling. He read a few passages. Oh. _Oh._ It was a kind of freestyle poetry, he thought. Well, some of it was. There were short stories, something that looked like lyrics, too. How much of this was there? Axel hastily pulled the notebooks from the seat pockets he'd found them in earlier and began reading. He opened them all and laid them out like a mosaic across his lap. Again, Saix opened one eye and kicked Axel in the shin.

 _Stop touching his stuff,_ the jabs said.

Axel just shrugged and kept reading. It was actually really good. It was profound or pretty or ugly...just _meaningful_ ; he could tell it was all meaningful and that’s what made it impressive.

Roxas, more on edge than he had been due to Axel's rummaging the first time, chanced a look to the back seat since it had been pretty quiet for a while.

 

_AXEL._

 

Roxas drove back over to the shoulder of the highway. They rode the rumble strips again as he said, "Put those down."

"Fine! Your driving spilled them all over the floor anyway."

"Don't touch them."

"Can't I at least put them back?!"

"No."

"Ok, great I'll just step on them," Axel mumbled.

"Don't be a dick," Saix hissed, quite upset they were _still_ driving mostly off the road.

Axel let out a 'hmph' and crossed his arms over his chest and his legs on the seat. _No one in this car knows what fun is._

 

After a few minutes of relative silence and acceptable driving, left unpunctuated by Axel's shenanigans, Roxas spoke.

"Hey, Kairi."

"Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favor? Open the glove compartment."

She obeyed and watched the papers and plastic bags fly out as she did.

"That's fine," he said flatly. "Can you hand me the bag in there?"

There were at least a dozen quart bags in there hidden between piles of loose leaf paper. She was making some sort of filler noise when Roxas realized she had no idea what she meant. Despite her confusion, she handed the first bag she saw to Roxas; it was filled with gummy bears.

"N-no the other b--"

"Here." She handed him another one, probably a random pick, which looked to be full of either seaweed or kale.

Roxas sighed and leaned over to look for himself. "The one with the green tag," he clarified finally, rummaging through his things, attention completely drawn from the road.

Saix yelped and kicked Kairi's seat as they began to change lanes (into a bunch of confused oncoming cars) since their driver was currently occupied with something else. She screamed and threw another bag at Roxas, luckily the right one, and he corrected the car.

He placed the tagged bag between his legs for the time being and slowly handed the others back to Kairi with his right hand. Once the glove compartment was repacked he opened the bag in his lap and produced a lighter from his pocket. Not to be uncourteous, he rolled his window down a slight and handed the bag back to Kairi.

"Anyone want a hit?" He asked nonchalantly, as if he hadn't violated twenty laws within the last hour and wasn’t continuing to do so.

Saix shook his head vehemently while Kairi managed a 'no thanks'. Axel, still steamed from before said 'nah.'

Roxas laughed, inhaling the smoke like it was the smell of fresh baked cookies.

"You sure? Your friend back there needs it," He jeered, cracking a sideways grin like he'd been pleasant as a daisy this whole ride.

Axel mirrored his smile. "How old did you say you are?"

"Didn't."

Axel reached his arm between the door and Roxas, who passed the joint back to him. "You gonna tell me or what?"

"I'm a freshman, like her."

Axel choked and coughed, from the answer or the smoke he wasn't sure. "Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering."

Roxas didn't seem like a freshman. I mean, yeah, he was a little flaky when he got angry, which seemed to happen at the drop of a hat, and he could switch gears to bubbly in an instant, but he just...didn't seem like the freshmen Axel had spent his last two years torturing.

 

It was then that Kairi got the sleeping arrangements from Riku. She didn't think too hard before responding with the one thumbs up, hoping her mood would come across. After she sent it the thought crossed her mind that Saix and Axel had to sleep together, but figured she wouldn't be upset if she found Axel murdered in the morning so she shrugged it off and instead troubled herself with whether or not Roxas would be pissy or happy about his new roommate.

Roxas and Axel smoked back and forth until it was gone, while Kairi and Saix shared a look with each other in the side mirror. She hated Axel, Saix could tell. It wasn't unwarranted, and to be completely honest he hated Roxas. After a long knowing stare with Saix, Kairi turned toward Roxas.

"Hey, let me know if you ever want me to drive; I'd be happy to take a turn."

"Oh, don't worry about it. My car handles weird. I don't to make anyone else have to deal with it," he told her, as jovial as ever.

Saix, thoroughly annoyed with the number of risks Roxas has taken thus far. "What's wrong with it?"

He made a noise of consideration before apparently compiling all the issues in his head. "Well, the brake pedal tends to stick. The engine likes not to start; the battery is that way too sometimes. The speedometer is on the fritz too."

"Well, if that's all," Axel snorted. Roxas laughed in response and began to sing along to Beirut .

 

\------

Hours of the same. Roxas was bubbly and amicable, Axel occupied himself with the music, Saix pretended to sleep and Kairi took in the sights. Eventually, Axel got bored again and tried reading the notebooks from where they were, lying open on the floor. Roxas did a single lane jerk, but not much more. Axel stuck his tongue out and pulled his lower eyelid down.

It was on.

Roxas began to bob and weave, accelerating steadily. Saix sat up and grabbed onto any handle available. Kairi clung to the dashboard as if it were a person, or stuffed animal at least, for comfort. Axel threw his hands up, cackling wildly.

"Do your worst," he declared, unbuckling his seat belt. "I'm not scared! Try and throw me!"

And he did.

Axel flew all around the backseat, running into the firmly anchored Saix more than once.

"Stop," Kairi whimpered, just as she was sure Roxas was going to u-turn for fun. They were going about twice the speed limit; luckily the road was mostly empty.

Roxas let off the gas and looked at Kairi, only now understanding what it was he had been doing. He slowed down to a legal speed and apologized quietly.

"Maybe we should stop for gas," she suggested. He nodded and asked her to reopen the glove compartment. This time he wanted the bag with the green tag, _and_ the one full of gummy bears.

 

\---

 

5:30 am. Meet and greet. Physical inventory: short spiky dude, lean asshole, David Bowie but sparklier, small emo guy, and Really Fucking Big Dude. Middle row of seats removed from maroon minivan. Lean asshole makes short spiky load bags into the trunk. Small squabble with David Bowie over open wallet; possible drug deal. Short spiky waves extra cash in air. Lean asshole pushes him (like an asshole) and points to car. Lean asshole climbs into driver seat. Short spiky scrambles into passenger seat. David, emo, and goliath (woah...theology deja vu) eye each other. David Bowie offers to sit in the middle. Emo opposes; he is sitting in the middle, next to Giant Man. Everyone loads themselves...I'm in.

6:00 am. After gas station stop for gas and snacks, two cases and three six packs of beer are loaded into the back. It's really cheap beer.

6:03 am. David Bowie makes mad dash for aux cord. He will be supplying music; prepare for death.

6:03 1/2 am. After brief scare, party determines Sir Mix-A-Lot is not playing and it is in fact Nicki Minaj, David's "sole reason for existence."

6:41 am. Short spiky and David are now both screaming to Art Pop. Lean asshole looks like hell.

7:12 am. It is apparent that Goliath is cramping. His head has hit the ceiling three times within the last hour. Hilarious. Why short spiky remains in the roomier passenger seat is unknown.

7:29 am. Finished 4 beers. Confirmed as the cheapest it comes. Emo guy's bag has almost all books in it, hardcover. Driving through the city was excruciating. I will pummel him like his books have pummeled me.

8:31 am. One and a half six packs down. Food stop coming soon, hard to hear over Carly Rae Jepsen. 

8:35 am. Have peed and drank one more beer. Gas station had sad selection of donuts. Goliath's legs made ungodly cracking noises getting in and out.

9:14 am. Stuck in traffic. Short spiky is still singing, badly. Goliath has a bag composed mostly of gym clothes...or he always dresses like that. Also brought hardcover books. Textbooks? Eugh.

9:36 am. At least three bags belong to short spiky. One full of only clothes makes for a good pillow.

9:42 am. Lean asshole is bad at braking. Sleeping is impossible. Lean asshole's bag could not be found. Did he bring anything at all?

10:12 am. Boredom sets in. Snapchat has been opened.

 

Xigbar scooted and shifted enough so he could take a picture of himself, beer in hand, in the trunk of this car. He put a filter over it, whichever filter showed the nearest rinky-dink town off the highway.

10:13 am. Xaldin has opened the snap.

10:15 am. Received blurred image of Xaldin entering a car captioned: "Where are you?!" Sent response: dunno, some guy's road trip I guess. Think we're headed to the beach?

10:16 am. Text received. "I'm coming." I will die a quick death when he arrives.

11:43 am. Stopped for lunch. Or maybe gas. Unsure, but the car has stopped.

 

Xigbar peered over the backseat for the first time that trip. He didn't want to risk being seen, but the way it stood he could probably sit _just there,_ and squeeze his legs _that_ way, and hide his head over here and he _should_ be able to--yes! He could probably see everything going on from there. He'd just have to wait until they all got back in the car to try it.

Outside, Riku was leaning on the side of the car, watching everyone walk out of the grocery store with their preferred snacks. Demyx had a bag of funyuns. Zexion had some sort of veggie chips, looked like dried taro root. His friend, Lexaeus, as Riku had learned, had just a jumbo bag of marshmallows. Sora came out holding some sort of weird spicy corn chip thing, and salt and vinegar chips for Riku.

"Thanks," Riku called as Sora tossed the chips to him, half the driveway away. "I’m gonna call Kairi and make sure they're okay and not lost or horribly off schedule."

"Oh! Ok, wait hold on!" Sora ran over to Riku, throwing his snack in through the open passenger side window. "Let's use my phone."

Riku rolled his eyes as Sora dialed and hit the speaker button as soon as he heard noise.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kai, it's me and Riku. You're not driving right?"

"Ooooh! Sora and Riku," Kairi repeated, louder than they thought necessary. "I better take this!" She yelled, again. Riku and Sora just looked to each other in confusion.

"Are...you okay?"

"Oh, god. Guys...I really don't know."

The boys were spitting questions left and right about feeling sick, getting hurt or being lost, left and right until Kairi shushed them.

"I'm in an IHOP bathroom right now." The phone went quiet as they waited for Kairi to finish her statement because that was a really weird way to start a story. "So...I fucking hate my friend's friend. You guys remember who Saix is, right?'

"That asshole lab dude who rode your ass for a semester," Sora noted, proud of himself for putting details to a name.

"The one you're pretty tight with now because he just had a stick up his ass?"

"Yeah, him. Well, he still has a stick up his ass, so I assumed his friend would be similarly well-behaved. " They could hear Kairi sigh in a very panicked way; they weren't sure if it really was a sigh or audible hyperventilation. "He's not! Axel is being a pain in the ass and it's driving my friend crazy! Roxas, the one I wanted you to meet, is like...having mood swings every few hours. He's fine for a while but every four or five hours, or when Axel starts being a dick, he starts driving like a madman and gets angry over every little thing."

"How long have you known Roxas?" Riku was mentally slapping his own forehead. She probably hadn't known him long enough to figure out he had a temper issue.

"This whole year! I met him the first week of fall semester. I mean," she was huffing again, "I knew he was quick to anger but Axel is just...making it ten times worse--on purpose! Saix and I are afraid for our lives!"

"Doesn't this Roxas dude also not want to die? Shouldn't he be more concerned about that bit?"

"You know every time I freak out and tell him to slow down or get off the shoulder or stop driving in the middle of the road or quit cutting across multiple lanes of traffic he seems to just snap right out of it. I think it's because Axel keeps challenging him."

Riku snorted. "Sound like someone we know."

Sora glared at Riku but only until Kairi asked, "Are you talking about yourself or trying to make a joke about Sora?"

"Ouchhh," Sora breathed. He poked at Riku a few times because 'haha your joke backfired’.

“Okay, but are you guys finding your way okay? Like, you're on schedule and everything?"

"Yeah, we're on schedule for now. Roxas refuses to take a sleep break and doesn't wanna make anyone else drive so we might even beat you...if he doesn't drive us off the road."

"Yikes," Sora offered as a kind of solace.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna get going and make sure there was no blood spilled in this IHOP today."

Everyone gave their goodbyes and stay safes and hung up.

 

Kairi walked out of the bathroom and prepared herself for what was to come. Inevitably she would find Axel killed by Roxas killed by Saix who just dropped dead from sheer anger.

But, no. She came back to her table to see the menus were gone and Axel and Roxas talking. She'd have to get closer to make sure it wasn't violent, but it didn't seem to be.

"I'm back."

"Oh, good. We ordered your pancakes for you," Roxas said, patting the space next to him in the semi-circle booth. She sat and noted that she was right across from Saix. His eyes were wider open than she'd ever seen them. She raised her eyebrows to inquire what the deal was, but he just shrugged and shook his head.

"So, as I was saying, the eggs aren't like...appetizing. They're just floppy and they look sweaty and nasty, you know?" Axel asked, presumably to Roxas, since Saix didn't seem to be listening. _What in the world were they talking about?_

"Wow, you are so right," Roxas admitted, staring not at Axel but through him. His mind had been blown by something in that egg statement, apparently.

The waitress came by and set their food down: scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon for Saix, blueberry pancakes for Kairi, a huge stack of plain pancakes for Roxas, and strawberry banana crepes for Axel. Saix thanked her and gave Axel a look.

"Oh, you can't expect me to hold back, can you? Roxas, let me drop you some knowledge on crepes," he started, pulling out a fork with which to poke his food.

"Why do you know so much about food?"

"Oh, right," he reminded himself aloud. Saix said nothing about him, he had to introduce himself. Duh. "My major. I’m in the culinary program."

Roxas nodded, pouring an ungodly amount of maple syrup over his food. Saix watched, distressed at the food crime being committed in front of him. Kairi seemed upset by it too, pouring a smaller amount of lingonberry syrup on her own plate.

“See how thick these are? There’s some lumps here, too. Literally, these bananas aren't even ripe! What do they think they’re doing?"

Saix sighed; he had hoped Axel wouldn’t be like this, but here they were. Kairi was intrigued, not only at Axel's apparent major, but at Roxas. He was just stuffing his face with pancakes, completely enraptured by Axel's Fun Food Facts(TM), as he called them.

"So, why culinary?" Roxas finally asked.

"Oh...well, I'm actually baking and pastry arts. It's sweet because," he paused for dramatic effect, "they let me have a blowtorch! I straight up get to burn their food, set it on fire, and they let me!"

Roxas started laughing. He laughed so hard he started to snort, but quickly covered his mouth so as not to do it again.

"No, but really it's like blah blah blah underappreciated art form blah blah and I've always sucked at drawing."

Roxas lurched once, twice, and started laughing again. Axel was smiling because, finally, he had become the center of attention and, bonus, it was in a positive way.

"So," he nudged Roxas's arm which almost caused a syrup disaster. "If you have anything with you, I could definitely make you THE most stellar brownies you have ever had in your life."

Roxas nodded blankly for a few seconds, chewing his food, until he realized what Axel meant. He smiled bashfully, face still full of pancake, and looked away, as if, all of a sudden, he was ashamed of it.

Kairi looked to Saix with a stern expression, nearly frowning. What the fuck was this? Those two were friends now? Saix gave a confused look back, then his eyebrows shot up in realization.

He mouthed the words, "he might be flirting" and shrugged again.

Kairi made a more thoughtful frown and bobbled her head before mouthing back, "well if he is I think it’s working" and pointed with her fork to a still giggling Roxas 

Axel waited until Roxas's laughter subsided enough for him to hear. "So, what's your major?" He then proceeded to interrupt any chance at an answer by wiping a bit of syrup from Roxas's cheek with his napkin.

 

To Roxas, it all moved in slow motion. He was laughing; his face hurt from smiling. Axel's mouth was moving for a second. Then his eyes widened a bit, staring at Roxas's face. His hand moved up to touch his cheek; Axel rubbed his thumb across it lovingly, and they kissed...softly, slowly. Axel's lips still had a bit of a strawberry taste to them and--

Woah. Roxas blinked hard. Was he still high? They'd known each other for all of 24 hours, in a car he had repeatedly almost crashed, half on purpose, because of the very guy he just fantasized about. He was a friend of a friend of a friend; he couldn’t just jump him like the thirsty ass he was. Still, with that little in common, you can't really wreck a friend group with a relationship...

"You okay?"

Roxas then realized he was just sitting, facing Axel, with his mouth partly open. Kairi insisted he shouldn't drive if he's so tired. Tired, yeah. Maybe that's what his problem was.

"I...just need to get up and move a little and I'll be fine. I did eat a lot just now."

Axel nodded with his hand on his chin. "Food coma."

"Yeah."

They finished the rest of their meal quickly in relative silence. As soon as they got to the car Roxas reached for--

"You're smoking _again_?” Axel observed, incredulous. "How much do you have, man?"

Roxas shrugged and lit it anyway. Smoking like a chimney as soon as they got on the road. Saix and Kairi both remained unimpressed because, let's face it, no one wants to be at the mercy of a high driver with a serious case of road rage.

Not too long after, Roxas asked for the gummy bears again, flicking the still-lit remnant out the window. He thanked her for passing them and ate one; he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a hand from the back, open palm, reach forward to him. Without thinking, he shifted the bag of gummies into his lap, put his left palm on top of the hand and laced his fingers with theirs.

The car was like a cartoon, when the action stops and everything becomes caricaturized with everyone's eyes growing long and pointing toward the strange part of the scene. In this case, that was Roxas holding Axel's hand; the poor guy just wanted a yellow gummy bear. Kairi and Saix looked to each other, then at Axel who looked at them both in turn, until all three looked at Roxas who was watching the road with lidded eyes, occasionally using his driving hand to pick up a bear and eat it. He hadn't turned back even once to look at who or what he had grabbed.

"Gee, you think he's high?" Axel whispered to the other two before snickering a bit. He squeezed Roxas's hand as a joke, but when he got a squeeze back he couldn't tell if this was a weird power move or not. Was he just slyly asserting his dominance? What was this? What were they? Axel couldn't decide between laughing and yelling so he did nothing, instead choosing to let his hand be held until Roxas let it go, if that ever were to happen. He looked at Kairi again, hoping for some sort of moral support. But she was already half asleep, head laying on the window. Saix had his eyes closed too, whether or not he was going to sleep was a toss-up. Someone should stay up to make sure they driver doesn't sleep at the wheel...and he supposed that would have to be him.

 

\---

 

Xigbar had successfully positioned himself so he could see the inner workings of the soccer-van community comprised of (imagine cheesy poses in a reality tv opening, montage style) Short Spiky (cheering) Lean Asshole (Ooooooh!) Daaaavid Bowie!  (fangirl screams) Emo kid (chair scooting and a cough) and the Reeeeeally Fucking Big Guy (Wooooah!) Sad thing was, that mental imagery was the most exciting thing to happen for four hours.  Xigbar figured that show, if it existed, might actually rake in the ratings...but no.

He'd been watching hours of Goliath adjust himself oh so slowl-if I just move my- I can just put my arm over here, creaking and cracking all the while. Emo kid had been through one physical book and was now reading from his phone. After venturing a very risky look, Xigbar discovered he was reading a beginner’s guide to beekeeping. Like, what the fuck? David Bowie hadn't moved from his seat much, just scooted forward some to sing with Short Spiky. In the front, Spiky and Asshole hadn't done anything either. Short Spiky had just been obnoxiously listing cities, streets, and shops they passed, either making a joke about them or saying 'let's go there!'  Asshole had been putting up with it all, including the obnoxious pop music, which Short Spiky was thoroughly enjoying,

"Oh, I used to hate this song," Sora said, mostly to Demyx.

"Me too! Then I saw this guy karaoke-"

"The entire thing in nothing but metallic-"

"Yeah! And then he had a troop of-"

"You were at the campus pride?" Sora asked, wondering if his feeling when he met Demyx last month was because he had actually met him once last semester.

"Oh. My. God." Demyx spat, before squealing, "Oh noooo, you were that guy in the huge Nike tank and the hair sticking out of the hat! You gave off these like...horribly douche-y vibes so I refused to talk to you."

"Woooow." Sora acted mock offended.

"Lmao, well, turns out I don't hate you so we're all good."

"Oh, good," Riku interjected, apparently annoyed with any and all chatter.

 _Uhg, Whatever,_ Xigbar thought. _I don’t need to stay awake just to hear Asshole needlessly bitch_. If that was the most exciting thing that was gonna happen, he was gonna knock the fuck out. He curled back up on the bottom of the trunk, in the bed of beer can's he’d amassed. Screw it, someone would wake him when they got there, probably by screaming, maybe by hitting, but hey, an alarm is an alarm.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...am unsure how error-free this is, but it should at least be readable now:^)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thanks for reading this silly little thing!  
> I apologize in advance because I'm not sure that updates will come chronologically, story-wise. I'll do my best, but also if there's a scene or something you wanted to see more of (like more of the road trip part) I'd be cool with writing like chapter 1.5 or something. Stay true to the franchise...nothing is easy to follow here...


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